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PNS Daily Newscast - November 19, 2018.

More than 1,200 missing in the California wildfires. Also on the Monday rundown: A pair of reports on gun violence in the nation; and concerns that proposed changes to 'Green Card' rules favor the wealthy.

"These institutions fail at protecting the community,” McCarthy said; "they fail at turning young lives around, they are unconscionably expensive, they are prone to abuse, they defy reform, and the bottom line is we have alternatives. "

The report also noted systematic, documented mistreatment in youth prisons since 1990 in most states, including Virginia. With fewer and fewer young people behind bars, Virginia has been considering how to house those who remain.

According to a 2015 report from The Commonwealth Institute, Virginia incarcerated youth at a rate 75 percent higher than the rest of the nation, costing the state nearly $150,000 per child. That same study found that nearly three-quarters of those released were convicted of another crime within three years.

McCarthy said juveniles are usually jailed for low-risk offenses, but even though the prisons are expensive, most young offenders don't get the guidance and support they need.

"We've got to reinvest that money in things that work,” he said. "We don't have any magic solutions for juvenile crime but we have many programs that have evidence of success that we need to invest our dollars in."

Gov. Terry McAuliffe has said he wants to replace the state's juvenile prisons with a number of small facilities. So far budget shortfalls have limited his success. But McCarthy said he favors that approach.

"Much smaller, more homelike, much more oriented to the appropriate developmental needs of young people,” McCarthy said, "a heavy focus on education, on job training and in preparing them to be successful."

The report recommended a "Four R" strategy: Reduce the pipeline of young offenders; reform the corrections culture that wrongly assumes locking up kids improves safety; replace youth prisons with rehabilitative services; and reinvest in evidence-based solutions.